Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Ecosystem monitoring in Canadian Arctic waters using the Continuous Plankton Recorder.  (CPR monitoring in the Canadian Arctic)

Outline
Continuous Plankton Recorders (CPRs) have been towed by ships-of-opportunity on various routes throughout the North Atlantic and North Sea since the 1930s, and in the subarctic North Pacific since the late 1990s. Samples of plankton corresponding to 10 mile sections are collected on a roll, sandwiched between two gauzes, and their sampling locations are logged. The gauzes are cut and the plankton are identified and enumerated at the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (Plymouth, UK). In the last few decades CPR sampling in the North Atlantic and North Pacific has shown changes in the distribution, composition, abundance, and seasonal life cycle timing of the plankton, all of which are thought to be linked to changes in climate. These changes include northerly shifts of temperate species that appear to be associated with changes in circulation and temperature. Changes in plankton dynamics are thought to impact the entire ecosystem, including higher trophic levels: for example, it has been suggested that in the North Sea decreased abundance of the dominant copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, may be linked to reduced recruitment rates of commercially important species such as cod. Climate change in the Arctic is resulting in increased ice melting and freshwater export to the eastern Canadian continental shelf, including the Labrador and Newfoundland shelves. CPR sampling on the Newfoundland Shelf has shown that this has been accompanied by increased levels of two Arctic copepod species, Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus, and a decrease in the level of Calanus finmarchicus. There are also indications that changes in circulation in the Arctic system are increasing the flux of Pacific water, and associated organisms including the Pacific copepod Calanus marshallae, eastward through the Canadian Arctic archipelago and into the Atlantic. Our knowledge of the changes that are going on north of the Newfoundland Shelf is currently very poor. In order to understand how the plankton community of the Arctic is responding to the changes that are going on in the Arctic itself, time series monitoring of the plankton is required. Dedicated regular cruises to these remote regions to collect plankton samples would be prohibitively expensive, but Canadian coast guard ships go to the Arctic every year from both west and east coast ports and they could provide platforms on which CPRs could be mounted to collect plankton samples on an annual basis. In this project we propose to tender a contract to SAHFOS for the purchase of two new CPR instruments, which they would install on two coast guard ships each year for each of the 3 IPY years. SAHFOS would analyse the samples and provide the data to DFO. The objective in the IPY time frame is to examine the feasibility of using this method as a means of monitoring the plankton of the Arctic, and to provide a base-line description of the distribution, composition and abundance of the plankton along two 1000 km transects. If the project is successful and affordable, we would hope to continue this sampling after the IPY programme has ended as a contribution to DFO’s national marine ecosystem monitoring programme.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
• Description of the present-day distribution, composition and abundance of the plankton along transects in western and eastern Canadian Sub-Arctic/Arctic regions. Observations of inter-annual variations on a short (3 year) time-scale. • Interpretations and projections in relation to other climate monitoring and modelling evaluations. • Improved understanding of Arctic marine ecosystems. • Improved understanding of the influences of changes in high Arctic and Canadian Archipelago on the east coast Sub-Arctic environment and ecosystem (i.e. Labrador and Newfoundland shelves)

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Some of these collaborations already exist; others will be developed before submission of the full proposal. • Institute for Marine Research, Bergen, Norway (K. Drinkwater: NORCAN, a comparative study of climate variability on the marine ecosystems of the Labrador/Newfoundland region and the Barents Sea/Norwegian Shelf) • Institute for Marine Research, Bergen, Norway (K. Drinkwater: GLOBEC, ESSAS, effects of climate variability and change on subarctic ecosysterms) • Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Scotland, UK (K. Willis: zooplankton as tracers of abiotic processes) • Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland (S. Rysgaard: ecosystem processes, Greenland Shelf)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Lancaster Sound, northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait, Beaufort Sea

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: CPR lines to be run in summer 2007, 2008,2009            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Surveys and analyses • Coast guard ships will provide sampling platforms free of charge • CPR deckware installation/maintenance: $3,000 per year. Total $9,000. • DFO travel for sample recover at terminus: $4,000 per year. Total $12,000. • Contract to SAHFOS in 2007 for the purchase of 2 CPRs: $60,000 (Cdn.) • Contract to SAFHOS for the running costs for 2x 1000 km CPR sampling lines (air freight/sample analysis): $21,600 for both sampling lines per year. Three year (2007-2009) total is $64,800. Other • liaison/collaboration with SAHFOS and other international collaborators: $3,000 per year in 2008 and 2009. Total $6,000 TOTAL 3 year project cost is $151,800

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
• Unique biological data set to initialise monitoring of the Arctic marine ecosystem. • Enhanced understanding of Pacific Ocean/Atlantic Ocean biological connections. • Development of methodology to expand DFO Monitoring observations into the Arctic. • Retention within DFO of purchased CPR tow bodies, and of expertise in processing and interpreting CPR data • Expanded geographic framework for interpreting DFO AZMP observations.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator

Coast guard “ships of opportunity” will be used to carry out the sampling on routes they will be travelling for their normal duties. This project will require no extra on site resources.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No - The project is being registered with both the Canadian (project #) and International (project #) IPY Offices

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?


Coordinated with other Arctic/Subarctic and Subpolar programs • Freshwater Flux in the Canadian Polar Regions, and Ecosystem components of Canadian IPY– e.g. MERICA, a DFO Quebec programme in Hudson Bay • ASOF Davis Strait Gateway moorings • Subarctic North Pacific CPR program (PIs S. Batten and D. Mackas; an ongoing SAHFOS/DFO collaborative program funded by Alaska’s North Pacific Research Board) • NWAFC (DFO, Nfld.) project on variability in zooplankton supply to the Newfoundland Shelf and Grand Bank (P. Pepin) • Sampling for AZMP (the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program) by NWAFC on the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves (P. Pepin, E. Colbourne) • Ecosystem/physical numercial modelling in the NW Sub-Arctic Atlantic – MUN (Brad de Young) • Annual West Greenland surveys by Denmark/Greenland and Germany • Annual AR7W DFO (BIO) surveys • GLOBEC – ESSAS • NORCAN

How will the project be organised and managed?
Co-lead and managed by the Ecosystem Research Divisions of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and by the Ocean Science Division at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, operated by SAHFOS

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Quality-controlled datasets would join the SAHFOS database, held by SAHFOS, and be provided to national archives and made available to collaborative projects. Progress reports and results would be provided at various fora.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The project would use the established data management, archival and dissemination infrastructure of the Ecosystem Research Division Data Management group and the Canadian Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS).

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Resources will be requested from Canadian government funding for IPY programs.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The project: • could be a Canadian contribution to ESSAS • would complement the DFO AZMP and an upcoming study by NWAFC on the supply of zooplankton to the Newfoundland Shelf and Grand Bank • would complement the IPY Freshwater Flux program, in connecting this program to the Subpolar North Atlantic and CLIVAR and other observational programs • will enhance DFO’s ability to monitor the planktonic ecosystem in the Arctic

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Erica Head
Biological Oceanography Section (BOS), Ecosystem Research Division (ERD)

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Other project members and their affiliation